The LPGA Tour finally has a new commissioner–and his name is Michael Whan.  The 44-year-old former marketing executive takes replaces the embattled Carolyn Bivens, who was forced out after the tour kept losing sponsors and tournaments.  Whan previously worked for TaylorMade Golf and Wilson Sporting Goods, and was most recently the president of Mission-Itech hockey.
Whan faces a daunting task, as the tour has lost six tournaments over the past year.  But the forecast for 2010 is promising, which excites the new commissioner.
It took a three month search for the LPGA to decide on Whan.  Interim commissioner Marty Evans will continue …read more

According to a source close to the situation, Carolyn Bivens, the much embattled commissioner of the LPGA, has decided to resign rather than square off against the LPGA Board of Directors to try and keep her current position.  The news comes less than a week after revelations that a number of LPGA players, including U.S. Women’s Open leader Cristie Kerr, presented a letter to Bivens calling for her resignation.
Since Bivens took over as LPGA commissioner in 2005, the tour has lost seven events, and others are questionable due to the weakened economy.  Her contract was set to expire in 2010, and …read more

At the Jamie Farr Classic this past weekend, won by South Korean Yi Eun-jung in a playoff, the ladies were doing more than just playing golf.  According to a report in Golfweek, as many as fifteen of the top LPGA players met with player directors on July 2nd to discuss the apparent disrepair of the tour, and more specifically, the ousting of Carolyn Bivens as commissioner of the LPGA.
The meeting was attended by some of the top names in women’s golf, including Lorena Ochoa, Paula Creamer, Morgan Pressel, Cristie Kerr and Natalie Gulbis.  After the meeting was over, a letter …read more